The natural world is filled with tipping points. Also called “threshold effects” or “critical transitions,” a tipping point is when a natural system experiences a shift to a dramatically new state. Many engaged environmentalists and other sustainability advocates are deeply concerned with ecological tipping points that have either already been breached, or appear to be approaching rapidly.

A powerful set of negative examples can be seen in the various fishery collapses that have occurred over the last 20 to 30 years. The Newfoundland Grand Banks cod collapse was formally recognized in 1992, when the Canadian government issued a fishing moratorium for the waters. However, the actual tipping point for the fishery had undoubtedly occurred years earlier. In fact, the cod catch peaked at 800,000 tons in 1968, but just 7 years later had fallen by more than 60 percent. Another famous fishery collapse occurred in the Pacific Northwest, where sardine populations cratered 90% between 2007 and 2016. Unfortunately, the trajectory for fisheries around the world look similarly ominous. As does data for global biodiversity and other planetary limits.

However, tipping points need not be ubiquitously dysfunctional or disastrous. They can also occur in human communities, especially around social norms – and these changes can actually be positive. When a large number of community members rapidly and dramatically change their attitudes and behavior – by either adopting a once rare practice or abstaining from a previously common one – we can say that community has experienced a social norm change. The change becomes self-perpetuating, held in place and continually encouraged by reciprocal expectations between community members.

Population Media Center is focused on catalyzing tipping points in the communities where we air entertaining dramas. On supremely sensitive issues, like early and forced marriage, gender based social discrimination, taboos around modern contraception or even family size preferences, our patient and determined approach has proven effective – and necessary.

Rather than awkward billboards, ignored public service announcements, or door-to-door campaigns with many slammed doors, our highly entertaining programs are universally welcomed by community members. As ever more numbers of people emotionally bond with leading characters in our stories, and see these characters role-modeling pro-social behaviors, momentum builds toward a dramatic change in norms.

In the Oromiya Region of Ethiopia, PMC’s hugely successful radio drama Yeken Kignit (“Looking Over One’s Daily Life”) catalyzed a tipping point on the issue of marriage by abduction. Below is an excerpt of one of the over 15,000 listener letters PMC’s Ethiopia office received while the drama was broadcast:

“The story of Wubalem in your radio drama reflects clearly to the general public the harmful traditional practices in our country such as abduction and sexual violence… Our first child was married at the age of 14 after she was abducted [on her way to school]. We were worrying for years as we thought that our second child would face a similar fate. At present, however, the radio drama focusing on abduction and sexual violence that you have presented to the public, and the discussions conducted on these topics, have aroused considerable popular indignation. The people have now strongly condemned such inhuman traditional practices… Unlike in the past, special punitive measures have been taken by community people against offenders involved in such crimes. As a result, we have no worry in sending our girls to school. Our children go to school safely and return unharmed. Please keep the program on the air.”

In this case, PMC’s fictional story, broadcast to an entire region of Ethiopia, ignited community discussions on the issue of marriage by abduction. More and more people reflected on the practice and realized the great harm being done to innocent girls. Suddenly, a social tipping point was passed. The power in numbers – the critical mass of people rejecting marriage by abduction – changed what was normal for that society. PMC’s fictional drama was the catalyst for their actions.

PMC’s mission is to use entertainment-education and mass media to promote social and cultural change by addressing the interconnected issues of the full rights of women and girls, population, and the environment. Our goals are to empower people to live healthier and more prosperous lives and to stabilize global population at a level at which people can live sustainably with the world’s renewable resources.

The views and opinions expressed through the MAHB Website are those of the contributing authors and do not necessarily reflect an official
position of the MAHB. The MAHB aims to share a range of perspectives and welcomes the discussions that they prompt.

Arnold Byron

PMC is an acronym for Population Media Center. The human race has grown in size to the point where serious minded people are beginning to become worried about overpopulation. Are we at the tipping point? Or did we pass the tipping point millennia ago? The story about how humanity will survive this growing crisis needs to be told. This is a job — for not only the Population Media Center — but for every public and private media center throughout the world. The topic of overpopulation is relevant even if there is only one listener.

But here is the rub. The topic of overpopulation has two levels. It’s easy to talk about trying to maintain the population. It’s hard to talk about reducing the population. You can have two children and maintain the population. To reduce the population you can have only one child. People need to be taught that population control is the paradigm for the future. Reducing the population in a nonviolent, non-eugenic, safe and humane way is not only possible, but doable. But it won’t happen if nobody is willing to talk about it.

Jason G. Brent

The activity of the PMC (Bill Ryerson & Joe Bish) is very nice and does some good work. However, that activity will not prevent the collapse of society and the deaths of billions occurring in the very near future. It is a diversion from the real solution to the problem of the exploding human population and the dramatically increasing per capita usage of the finite and limited resources the earth provides to humanity that are essential for our industrialized society to exist.
Please contact me at jbrent6179@aol.com and I will send many documents that support my comment.